There comes a point in the infertility journey where it's time to seek out some outside advice for therapy and coping strategies - there's no shame in that, and it's something that's been of great benefit to me since we lost our babies last year. For a while now, I've considered this second journey to pregnancy as being a lot more difficult than it was initially - though the first time around took longer, the actual IVF segment was a lot shorter & we didn't go through the devastating losses that we have this time around. With that said, I'm happy to have found someone who can help me work through it all.
I've tried a few things to help with my anxiety this year - a course of hypnotherapy, and teaching myself to meditate of an evening before bedtime. It helped me to wind down, to sleep better & to learn to switch off my mind instead of over-thinking anything and everything that was going on in my world.
Admittedly, after the first failed IVF transfer this year, I threw a bit of a hissy fit & chucked the hypnotherapy MP3's into my bedside drawer -- what good did they do, they obviously weren't helping matters.
But regardless of whether they helped get me pregnant, I definitely felt a lot more stressed out this last IVF transfer (which also failed) so I decided to dig it back out & try it again this time around.
I've also jumped on the colouring for adults bandwagon, which is really helping me to be a little more zen. I decided on a book of Mandalas, since they signify balance and cosmic order. The more you concentrate on the design, the more you can let go and relax - and the slow and steady colouring allows your mind to focus.
I'm taking my time with the colouring, so it's taking an awfully long time - but I think that's the point. Slow and steady.
What other strategies do you find useful to help you to calm down and be more mindful?
A lot of ladies from my knitting group are working through adult colouring books at the moment - my favourite so far is a mandala one someone bought from a boutique bookshop up north. So restful, even just looking at them!
ReplyDeleteThat looks great in theory. But when you're a Type A kind of person who is horrified when she colors outside of the lines or makes some other kind of "mistake," coloring is fraught with stress and horror.
ReplyDeleteI'm kidding. (Sort of.) But yay for finding things that de-stress you!
Love the coloring idea. That seems like a good way to center and calm yourself at any phase of life. I do hand-stitched embroidery, and the focus is requires is very calming.
ReplyDeleteI relate with this so much. I started painting about 18 months ago and love how I can just zone out a bit and let my mind both wander and rest...wander-rest...is that a thing? If so, painting does it for me. Hugs, my dear.
ReplyDeletexox